M25-29: McPartlan Runs Away With It in San Francisco

• Matt McPartlan (19:00, 6:07/mi) won the M25-29 field by a commanding 1:41 over runner-up David Creger.
• Creger (20:41) and Jose Nunez (20:54) battled for the podium, separated by just 13 seconds — with Creger holding 2nd at 6:39/mi to Nunez's 6:44/mi.
• The top 11 all broke 25 minutes in breezy, humid San Francisco conditions; the field of 96 stretched from 19:00 down to well past the half-hour mark.
• Yasin Ehsan (4th, 22:09) and Tony Qin (5th, 22:38) formed a clear second tier, both finishing well clear of the 23-minute pack that followed.

Matt McPartlan came to San Francisco and made the M25-29 race his own from the gun. The 28-year-old from Half Moon Bay crossed in 19:00 at a 6:07/mi clip — a pace that left the rest of the 96-man field chasing shadows. His margin of victory was 1:41, a gap that tells you everything about how this race was run at the front.

Behind him, the real drama was the battle for silver. David Creger (26, Santa Clara) locked in at 6:39/mi to finish in 20:41, while Jose Nunez (29, South San Francisco) pressed hard at 6:44/mi, crossing in 20:54. Creger's pace was the difference — he held 13 seconds in reserve to secure 2nd. These were the only two men in the field who cracked 21 minutes, making the podium a genuine three-man story in a race that otherwise had a decisive winner.

The next wave arrived in the 22-minute range, with Ehsan (22:09) and Qin (22:38) running clear of a cluster that formed around the 23:56–24:08 window — Gabe Capistrano (6th, 23:56), Miguel Ramirez (7th, 23:58), and Andrew Zeff (8th, 24:08) finishing within 12 seconds of each other. Zachary Miller (9th, 24:34), Nicholas Tanzymore (10th, 24:39), and Aaron Corin (11th, 24:45) kept the pressure on through the finish, all arriving within 11 seconds of one another and inside 25 minutes. On a cool but breezy morning on the San Francisco waterfront, McPartlan made it look easy — the rest of the field made it look like a fight.